Re: Neanderthal and PIE

"Neanderthal" is too well-ingrained for me to have a problem with it,
as I've known the word for over 30 years.  I still automatically
pronounce it with a /T/ instead of a /t/, though..



On 10/14/08, John Vertical <johnvertical@...> wrote:
> How come no one has proposed the easiest way to "freeze" a language in time
> yet?
>
> Step One: Neanderthals speak pre-PIE.
> Step Two: Neanderthals invent writing.
> Step Three: Neanderthals go extinct.
> Step Four: After a few dozen millennia, Homo sapiens invents archeology.
> Step Five: Numerous artifacts with pre-PIE on them are discovered, the
> language deciphered, and held to a greit (possibly divine) value.
> Step Six: Mysterious cataclysm causes the concepts of archeology and writing
> to be forgotten. PIE continues on, having been adopted as a spoken language.
>
> It would imply the need for some juicy conhistory, too :)
>
> John Vertical
> PS. My brain is obviously displeased with the name and keeps changing it to
> "Neardenthal". Anyone else have the same problem?
>
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Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>

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